(Bu Cai's Cultivator Abode)
(Bu Cai POV)
Annoyed by her interrupting my train of thought, a frown adornes my face and I say in a cold tone,
"What do you want?"
I glare at her with a sharp gaze that which reflects some of my annoyance and dissatisfaction with her barging in here.
Under my cold glare and unwelcoming tone, Chen Ru's cheeks puff up and her beautiful eyes become teary as she replies as if she had been wronged,
"I just came to see you because I wanted to know if you were alright!"
"But instead of expressing any gratitude for my care, YOU ARE SHOUTING AT ME?!"
...
THIS BITCH!
WHY WOULD I NEED YOUR CARE!?
I KNOW YOU ARE A TSUNDERE PRINCESS TYPE, BUT THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE YOUR IRRITATING ATTITUDE!
Repressing my seething anger after realising that emotions are causing me to act irrational.
I calm myself and come to the understanding that it wouldn't do any good for me if I argue with the Clan head's daughter.
So I quickly soften my gaze and change my facial expression to show that I feel touched. I then respond to her with a gentle tone,
"Ru'er, I've misunderstood you!"
"I've just been a bit stressed lately and accidentally lashed out at you even though you were only thinking about my well being."
"Could you forgive me?"
After hearing me call her Ru'er, a blush appears on her face as she responds bashfully,
"I-It's fine. I totally understand!"
"As long as you are fine, then everything is okay..."
She pauses for a moment and says,
"Father wanted me to tell you that there will be a competition again, and that he wants you to participate and represent the Chen family."
She also adds nervously,
"A-And, I also came here to ask if y-you wanted to go see the city together when we are out for the competition?"
"B-But it's just because father told me to s-show you around!"
I quickly wear a big smile on my face and say,
"Tell the patriarch that I will attend the competition and that I will not fail him!"
I then paused for a moment. The nervous expression on her face as she eagerly awaited me to answer was hilarious.
I then replied with an excited expression, "Well...If the Patriarch said so... then I would love to go with my cute junior sister to see the city!"
As soon as she heard my words, she ran away with red ears that were clearly obvious due to her having smooth jade skin.
After waiting a while to ensure that she is gone, my smile drops as I let out an exhausted sigh.
I am no dense rom-com protagonist. So even though I don't have much experience with girls, I can clearly tell that she has feelings for me...
But I don't have any feelings for her.
Firstly, she is still a young lady who is only 16 years old. Which instantly decreases my interest.
Secondly, She is an incredibly annoying type of person to deal with, as she will involve herself in anything you do as long as she feels like it.
And lastly, getting into relationship with her will get in the way of my plans.
Although I am aware that the Patriarch will definitely try and get me with her however if my plan goes well... Even he won't be able to say anything.
I will admit though, she is indeed very talented, beautiful and rich...
But isn't that the same with just about every jade beauty here?
Even the ones found in stories that say they picked the girl up from the streets as a beggar. The girl eventually turns out to have a mysterious or profound background and great talent.
So it doesn't really move me.
Plus... The candidate I have in mind for my partner is someone who will help me immensely with ensuring that Long Tian dies, and she has all the same good qualities but on steroids...
You've probably guessed it already...
It's Song Ju.
Although her spirit roots where not revealed publicly, I am 100% sure she has god grade roots.
Her wealth from the Song Family alone is something that can rival the Chen Family due to her being from a lineage of renowned doctors, and this is not including the fact that she is related to the Tang Family in the upper realm as well!
Plus, her looks are basically unrivaled in 100,000 years!
...Do I need to say any more?
Add on the fact that she is Long Tian's main weakness, It's literally the best goal I could possibly have right now!
However... It's very difficult to actually build a relationship with her and achieve my goal.
So I the first thing I have to make sure to do now is keep her interest. By building up her interest in me, she will eventually approach me.
It's just a matter of time and opportunity.
*Sigh*, why must the goal of a turbo virgin like me, be to capture a beauty?
...
...let's hope this upcoming inter-house/sect competition goes well.
...
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(Morning, Bu Cai's Abode)
(Bu Cai POV)
A new day, a new bath... Hehehe.
With this new high class place, I get a bath which can only be described as godly!
Not only is it spacious as fuck, it's marbled out to the brim and has cool functions that can be activated with spirit power such as the invisible spirit soap dispenser.
But that's not even the best part... Because it also has a Xianxia style Jacuzzi!
If you actually don't think this shit is the greatest thing since sliced bread, then you aren't human.
My routine has never stopped over the years, but inf act it has evolved.
I now have the highest quality of spirit foods, even though I don't have to eat much anymore.
I have robes, that are whiter than the whitest fucking white you have ever whitnessed.
And my shoes are even drippier with a cool gold/black design that I got at a super expensive price. Add that onto my immortal certified socks, and I'm damn sure even an ugly beggar would become an eye-catching gentleman!
So needless to say with my peerless loo- Anyways, I'll stop with the fac-*Cough* bragging and go bathe now.
As I walk in, I sit down in the hot water and feel like I am being purified... but I slightly squint my eyes for a bit to focus on something that has suddenly caught my eye...strange.
It's something that I would have easily overlooked if I didn't spot by complete accident....
AND THAT'S A FUCKING ISSUE!
How could something escape my senses as a Qi condensation cultivator, who has quite refined senses by hunting in the wild a lot?
I focus more on the small thing that has caught my attention, however the more I seem to focus the harder it gets to see?!
What?
I instantly get up and inspect what fucking thing thinks it's funny to interrupt my bath time with such shenanigans.
As I walk up to 'it'. I see a semi-transparent bug laying upside down...
It looks like a hercules beetle with a jet black exoskeleton and it's horn is a deep gold colour alongside jade green eyes.
What the fuck is this?!
More importantly...This bug looks hella cool!
Making the spontaneous decision that this badass bug is going to be my Xianxia companion. I instantly go to inspect it.
Hmmm, I've never seen something like this before. Even my high school biology can't explain it!
But then again... What is the point in guessing if I have a trusty system?
I instantly use analyse and check out my new pets stats...
But what I saw... instantly scared the life out of me!
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Author's Notes:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
And if you have any feedback, feel free to comment.
I just want to establish this right now...
BU CAI IS NOT DESPERATE FOR ANY WOMEN!
So don't expect him to be collecting them, or going out his way to impress them, unless it is for a greater purpose or scheme.
Thanks for reading!
I like the story so far but Bu Cai seems more and more heartless, it is fine if you want to make him a bit evil however his goal is to stop the protag to protect his family, yet now he is spending years with people he ain’t getting close to, it would be nice to see him genuinely bonding with people cause it is what i felt he would do at the start of the story or even to slowly start to care for the people he use as “pawns”. It would be a shame if he end up being a murder-hobo like all Xianxia protags.
I feel like he has to be quite heartless though, as this is a Xianxia world.
Plus, he just said he doesn't like Chen Ru...
I'll try to keep him as human as possible, for as long as possible; However, as the story progresses and Bu Cai experiences more things and lives longer, he will eventually reach the point where he won't care about much, whether it be other people, or lives.
@CheeseWithouSauce I feel like compartmentalizaion is key here, many crime bosses in reality are ruthless to their associates and enemies alike, but are genuinely good people to be around if you exclude the dark stuff, is this a sign of sociopathy? Yes, yes it is, do undercover cops go through the same, yes. Often complex characters that you can enjoy are often as bit crazy.
He's been fked over so many times and you expect him to be a care bear?
@KuqKuburra No that would be disastrous. An up beat murderhobo Care bear...Yes. Cultivating is basically a factory for edgelord with no self sa awareness.
Bu Cai can't afford a mind set too dark or caring. Adaptation requires perspective.
@markos hes not technically human anymore he's undead, given how long lived xianxia characters are it's difficult to stay the same or be expected to retain your humanity, in essence they stop being human once undertaking the cultivator path, how can you live thousands of years and be remotely human?
Better to think of them as another species, it's like Neanderthal vs homosapien, I don't think it's even fair to judge them by human standards.
He's in an even more strange position, it's bizarre that he can stay this way indefinitely without fluctuating or deviating, that's just not possible, what's more crazy is how that roach maintains that obsession for millennias just htf is that possible... All I can think of is that time moves differently for them so its just a matter of perspective, but honestly I'd be screaming for death if I lived that long, I wouldn't be able to stand it.
@KuqKuburra
He's more of a fledgling immortal, undead typically can't feel many things the "living" or "mortals" can.
Though this brings a common troupe with long-lived and Immortal characters, their mental health or perspective on existence. My favorites are the typical Fairy, youthful, Playful, eternally a child unaware of the passage of time, and the "Flawed Paragons", people/mortal/beings who through whatever means became more yet less, they are more like embodiments of ideas, concepts emotions, and sate of minds sentient yet stagnant. Paragons of one thing and detach from others.
Superman for near immortals and Fate Characters like Archer are good examples.
Basically, mental health is important not just for mortals, but also for the long-lived
@markos he's a ghost sent in for a specific task, he's not there for anything else although the system will allow him to live in a world if he's successful... A Xianxia world where he can live a really long ass time... Like what kind of break is that if I had the internet I might like that perk! But if I had to live a Xianxia life I'm not sure I would...
Hes shown to be diligent, hard working, focused, driven and determined but I couldn't keep that chit up for a day let alone thousands of years lol...
On top of that the op wants him to care and not be a murderhobo trope, he's got no internet, heck even if you had access to galactic Netflix,YT and Google Play I might still off myself...
How can anyone maintain that LVL of dedication, so I'm of the mindset that if he blows off steam by being the Blackdeath wannabe or bonk machine 9000 then power to him lol, if he wants to be Machiavelli and play with people like Sims then you do you bro I ain't gonna judge.
Who knows how long this task is gonna take, chit it might take forever, what's he gonna do? Be like Goku?
@KuqKuburra You forgot one major point, that’s what Xianxia protagonist do, he is meant to destroy them not go full Anakin and become one of them!!
@Webnovellover64 I ain't gonna judge how he deals with stress/boredom/frustration etc, if he decides he's Hitler today and Ghandi the next so be it, why does he have to maintain a moral compass based on a reader's viewpoint? That's the authors worry not the mc if he ends up destroying the world to kill the roach I'm ok with that lol because either way he has no worries, he's allowed to fail and the system fked up by sending him to an s rank roach....that world was doomed from the get go.
But wait... Our Boi is powering up something fierce, maybe the world might survive this extermination attempt... Maybe his family will live! Even though they're prolly living 100000 lifetimes longer than the poor cannon fodder primitive humans doh...
So because it's Xianxia I don't care if people get offed, they lived plenty already!